Report: Sounders have landed Clint Dempsey

Updated Saturday 2:13 p.m.: The Associated Press has reported that Clint Dempsey’s transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Major League Soccer has been completed. The story didn’t mention Dempsey’s ultimate destination, but NBC Sports’ ProSoccerTalk website reported that Spurs will receive $9 million as a transfer fee and that Sounders will pay Dempsey more than $8 million per season for four years to play in Seattle.

The Sounders have announced a “special presentation” tonight at 7:15 p.m. prior to their match against FC Dallas at CenturyLink Field.

Updated 2:53 p.m.:ESPN reports that the Sounders and Clint Dempsey’s current club, Tottenham Hotspur, are finalizing a transfer deal to bring Dempsey to Seattle. ESPN cited two anonymous sources in the Sounders office, one of whom told reporter Doug McIntyre, “But let’s put it this way: I’m not surprised I’m receiving a call.”

Clint Dempsey is an excellent soccer player. He beat out former Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller for the 2006 U.S. men’s national team Player of the Year award. He was the first American to score a hat-trick in the English Premier League. He was the captain of the national team when they were perfect through nine World Cup Qualifiers in June.

Clint Dempsey dribbles against Panama during the U.S. men’s national team’s Qorld Cup Qualifier on June 11 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. (Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

And he might soon be a member of Seattle Sounders FC.

Well, maybe not. Potentially not. Probably not.

Rumors started flying this week that Dempsey, 30, is considering a return to Major League Soccer. Things really got going Thursday when, in mid-afternoon, a well-connected U.S. soccer figure (Keith Costigan) tweeted that it was the Sounders who were interested in signing Dempsey.

As Andy Edwards of MLSSoccer.com so comprehensively chronicled Friday morning, the saga spanned several hours Thursday while Dempsey apparently was traveling the West Coast. According to numerous MLS fans on Twitter, Dempsey was spotted at San Francisco International Airport near a gate for a flight headed to Seattle.

But first, Sounders forward Eddie Johnson had to throw some water on the fire.

“I think everyone needs to calm down,” Johnson tweeted at 6 p.m. “If Dempsey was coming I would (have) been spilled the beans.”

And then, Dempsey had to throw some water on it himself — by eventually boarding a flight at a different gate. Despite that, several Sounders fans hung out at Sea-Tac on Thursday night, waiting for Dempsey to possibly show up.

He never did.

So, where are we at now? When it comes to Dempsey coming back to the MLS or specifically to the Sounders, we’re still just at the rumor stage.

Isn’t this a view Sounders fans would like to see more often? Clint Dempsey, right, celebrates his U.S. national team’s victory over Panama on June 11 at the CLink. (Joe Klamara/AFP/Getty Images)

“We’re always interested in good players, first off and foremost,” Schmid said of the Dempsey rumors. “But right now there’s really nothing to it, there’s nothing to say. But right now we’re in a position — I know we announced that Shalrie Joseph is no longer a designated player. That was something that was necessary for us to put ourselves in a position to add something significant to our team before (the MLS transfer deadline on) Aug. 8.”

Mahler prodded Schmid on whether the Sounders had been in contact with Dempsey.

“Not at this stage, that I’m aware of,” Schmid said Thursday. “I know Clint, I’ve talked to him … I always follow what he does, follow his career, when he was here in MLS and overseas. But there’s nothing there that I can say right now. … Right now there’s nothing that’s nailed down and concrete.”

There also was a rumor Dempsey might be headed to Everton FC of the English Premier League. But we’ll keep you posted on the Dempsey rumors.